Hiking Trails and Trips
Trips
While 22,000 people ran the race ... I hiked it. :)
Just a quick hike on a warm fall day.
I visit Mt. Sizer every year. The best time to go is in the late Spring, when the wildflowers are at their peak. But this year I didn't make it. However, this late Fall weekend I had nothing planned on the calendar, and the weather forecast was fantastic ... 70s to low 80s and clear. OK, sounds like a good time to sneak in a Sizer run. Laurent and Karl quickly joined...
I have been to Mount Sizer twice before. The first visit changed my life; I performed so poorly on the hike that it frightened me into changing my life dramatically. I dropped 40 pounds, and started hiking a LOT to exercise. (See EveryTrail trip 233107).The second visit - a year later - was a test. Would I perform better on this (long, challenging) hike? The good news was that I did. I...
Joel wanted to go see a new section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail south of Don Castro Regional Park .. just dedicated last August. So new that the maps on the Ridge Trail website haven't been updated to include it yet! http://ridgetrail.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106:independent-school-to-five-canyons&catid=43:east-bay&Itemid=124So ... a plan was hatched. Joel, Joe, Raj and I met at Don Castro and headed out. The trip starts out in a developed local park, then heads up...
Mike and Judy wanted to go for a nice hike, so I suggested Wood Road at Almaden Quicksilver. It's relatively flat and leads directly into some of the most historic parts of the Park.When we got to the trailhead, some other hikers reported that the Wood Road trail was hot. I had been worried about that - the temps were a bit high for October, and there isn't really any shade on...
A great hike with Laurent, Rebecca, Dave and Karl. I've been to Willson Camp twice before this year ... http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=689846 and http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=590755 ... but I wanted to go again. I'm fascinated by that water spigot at the camp, and wondered if it still had water even this late in the year.I randomly tweeted that I wanted to go, and a plan was born. I arrived a little later than the others to the trailhead. By the...
Presidio and Bridge ... the Bay Area Ridge Trail
San Francisco, California, United States
Hiking | 9.1 miles
Hiking | 9.1 miles
I would love to hike the entire Bay Area Ridge Trail (ridgetrail.org). I had some time on a rare trip to San Francisco, and decided to knock off two segments of the trail.The Ridge Trail is divided into segments. These correspond to hikes listed in the "bible" of the Trail, "Bay Area Ridge Trail: The Official Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, and Equestrians" by Jean Rusmore. See http://www.ridgetrail.org/interactive_map/&Itemid=99/ for a great way to check...
Yosemite! Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls
Yosemite National Park, California, United States
Hiking | 7.0 miles
Hiking | 7.0 miles
OK, so it's been done before. By thousands of people. On the same day that Elaine and I did it. :) Too bad ... it's popular because it's very cool! Elaine and I started our round trip to Nevada Falls a little late in the afternoon, and hurried a little bit to be sure we made it back down before dark. (We did, no problem.) This late in the season the falls...
I wanted to go for a fairly short hike with a lot of vertical ... but also with a lot of shade. As I pondered options, I thought of this hike. I've visited Sanborn County Park quite often, usually to do volunteer trail work there. But on those occasions I've only seen the trails at the top of the park, near Skyline Boulevard. I had never seen the trails at the bottom,...
I had never been on the Cherry Cove Trail at Calero, so I went. The forecast called for a high of 92 ... warm but do-able. I got to the trailhead at 10, and headed off. Calero is a popular park with equestrians, and somewhat less so with hikers. The trails tend to lots of up-and-downs which can be somewhat demoralizing. I only saw three other hikers all day. I headed down...
Rocky Mountain NP: Lakes, lakes, lakes!
Fall River Estates Subdivision, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 6.6 miles
Hiking | 6.6 miles
I still remember my first trip to Bear Lake ... 42 years ago. It made a big impression on a kid from Kansas. I was really happy to make a return visit!When planning this trip, I didn't know how much time we would have, and how we would react to hiking at this elevation. So my Plan A objective was to make it up to Dream and Emerald Lakes. I am sure...
After being out of town on vacation for a week, I needed a hike. Almaden Quicksilver seemed like a good place. I started at the Hacienda, and made a tour of the south part of the park on the Mine Hill, Castillero, and Randol trails. There were a lot more flowers than I had expected. The Scotch Broom was amazing ... the sweet smell to strong it made me cough in spots....
Elaine, Teresa and I went on a driving adventure ... we drove from San Jose CA to Wichita KS, making several fun stops along the way. One of those stops was Dinosaur National Monument. As we had a lot of miles to cover, our time on this day was limited. So we didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked. And the permanent Visitor's Center has been condemned and...
Stonecrop Craziness - Sierra Azul edition
English Town, California, United States
Hiking | 3.2 miles
Hiking | 3.2 miles
Several weeks ago Laurent and I hiked from Gudalupe Lake to Hicks Road via the Sierra Azul Openspace. We were both astonished by the variety and quantity of amazing wildflowers .. almost all of them in the last 2 miles! Today I brought Elaine back for a peek. We drove up to the Hicks Road trailhead and headed down Woods Trail. The trail zigzags in and out of small valleys, and thus...
PRIEST Rock - Lexington to Hicks
Lexington (historical), California, United States
Hiking | 12.0 miles
Hiking | 12.0 miles
Laurent and I had a nice time hiking from Lexington Reservoir to the Hicks Road trailhead in Sierra Azul on the Priest Rock, Kennedy and Woods Trails. We met at the Hicks Road trailhead, left one car there, then drove to Lexington. I was surprised ... the trip took more than 30 minutes! I guess the hike is going to be long and impressive then...I had hiked from Lexington to Sombroso a...
I did the loop from Coe HQ to Mount Sizer 10 months ago. (See http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=233344). It was by far the longest and steepest hike I'd ever done. It almost killed me. Well not quite ... but it DID change my life. When we got to Mt. Sizer I was completely "done". Legs shaking, heart racing, energy spent. And only 1/3rd of the miles were done. By the time we got to the...
"Want to do the definitive Mt. Diablo hike?" Vaudesir asked. "It has astoundingly steep stretches!" Wow, way to sell it. Well, OK. But you're driving.The hike started out pretty mild, following a beautiful stream with great wildflowers. And then it went up. The up was pretty relentless ... I don't really think any of it was "astounding"; I'm sure I've been on steeper hikes ... Hobbs Road to Mt Sizer at Henry...
I organized a group trip to Pinnacles for the Geocachers of the Bay Area (http://thegba.net). Fifteen folks came out to play! We started at West Pinnacles, and headed to the Balconies Cave ... from there over to the Old Pinnacles Trailhead, then up the High Peaks trail to and through the peaks themselves .. then back down to West Pinnacles.Wildflowers were near their peak. The bright yellow bush poppies were amazing, as...
